Rate the last book you read!!

[ethiostar]

I just got through reading 'Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole, this was my third time reading this book. Easily in the top five of my favorite books. It is one of the funniest and gut wrenchingly sad stories i've ever read. It literally makes me laugh out loud and brings tears to my eyes within the same page. The main character is Ignatius Reilly, a fat, delusional, over-educated, selfish and arrogant 'writer' who lives with mother and stays home almost all the time until circumstances force him to find a series of odd jobs in the French Quarter which brings him in contact with a whole bunch of interesting supporting characters.

If you haven't read this book, it is quite simply a MUST READ. You will hate Ignatius Reilly while at the same time you laugh at him and gradually learn to feel for him.

On a side note, the author committed suicide in 1969. His mother found his hand written notes for this book and managed to get them published after his death. I'm so glad she did.

[Bob Sacamano]

Stalin's Children -- 8/10

Great book, but the ending is terribly anti-climatic. All the battles these 2 fought to be together, and it turns out that it was just a fling because they ended up hating each other. Not hate, but one of the protagonists wanted his wife to run off with another man in the end.

[Sam I Am]

Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner

Rating: 10 / 10
This was a wonderful and enlightening book about one not just one of America's forefathers, but one of the greatest men in American history.

This book doesn't just paint George Washington as this indestructible man who was the General of the entire US army during the revolution and the first US president. It describes him as he really was. An intelligent, but very inexperienced man who made many mistakes while serving the American people due to that inexperience. It also speaks of how influential Washington was. He obtained his heightened status due to that charisma even when he would protest against taking such positions that were offered to him. His charisma was so overwhelming and the American people loved him so much that when political figures would attack him personally, the American people would revolt against the attacker.

This book is actually composed of several of James Flexner's biographies about Washington. Originally he was going to write a Washington biograph, but compiled so much information early on that he decided it would take to long to do a complete biograph and only made one about the first part of Washington's life.

As he went on, he wrote other biographies about other portions of his life. One he completed all the biographies over many many years, he decided to compile them all into a single master volume. It was done perfectly as he removed duplicated information / references form the other volumes and only kept the fresh information. This allowed the slimming down the book from the size of all the volumes compiled together.

If you love American history, this book is a must read.

[zrinkill]

The Ghost King

7 out of 10

Seemed like Mr. Salvatore was trying to quickly end the last book in his trilogy.

[ScipioCowboy]

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker 8/10

An intriguing exploration into nihilism, the meaning of sensory experience, and sadomasochism. The film adaptation, Hellraiser, is similar, but presents the putative monsters, the Cenobites, in a different light. In the book, they're merely seekers of extreme sensation with absolutely no concept of the difference between pain and pleasure. In the film, they're genuinely evil and willfully malicious.

[Heisenberg]

I've read quite a few in the last couple of months. In order:

'The Long Walk' by Stephen King - 7/10 It was a good, quick read. A bunch of teenage boys have signed up to do this long walk and the last one standing at the end gets a prize. The prize is always referred to vaguely, but the punishment for stopping your walk is a pretty big one.

'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King - 9/10 It's seven books. I would put the first four of the series above the last three. Although, the ending of the series could not have been any better in my eyes. I loved it. The fourth book was my favorite. Roland, the gunslinger, was my favorite character and the fourth book was mostly his backstory.

'A Boy's Life' by Robert McCammon - 8/10 This was recommended by a coworker as one of his favorites. It's not really one of my favorites, but I read it in between a couple of different book series and it was a nice single book read to break up the long-haul on those. It's about a small town where some pretty fantastical things happen over about a year period.

'The Black Jewels' trilogy by Anne Bishop - 9/10 Maybe I should give it an 8.5, but I'm rounding. I wouldn't put it up to the depth of story of say 'The Dark Tower' series, but these three books just flew by. There were no wasted pages. All of the characters of very strong and memorable. It's got magic, demons, witches, etc. I mean, it's definitely fantasy, but it has some pretty cool twists on it.

And I just started 'A Game of Thrones'. I'm 200 pages in and I'm loving it. There's a certain depth of story here that I think is going to make it a favorite of mine.

[kmp77]

Originally Posted by Ozzu

'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King - 9/10 It's seven books. I would put the first four of the series above the last three. Although, the ending of the series could not have been any better in my eyes. I loved it. The fourth book was my favorite. Roland, the gunslinger, was my favorite character and the fourth book was mostly his backstory.

I'm contemplating getting into this series. But 7 books...ouch.

[vta]

Originally Posted by Ozzu

'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King - 9/10 It's seven books. I would put the first four of the series above the last three. Although, the ending of the series could not have been any better in my eyes. I loved it. The fourth book was my favorite. Roland, the gunslinger, was my favorite character and the fourth book was mostly his backstory.

I only read the first 3 then stopped and haven't really been moved to get back into it, but I have read The Gunslinger multiple times. It can stand on it's own as a great story.

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by kmp77

I'm contemplating getting into this series. But 7 books...ouch.

It's worth it. I think book 6 is by far the weakest and even that one isn't bad. It's just a bit slow in spots.

[CanadianCowboysFan]

I just finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

As the song by Evanescence goes "I know the truth now". Religion is now clear to me.

[SaltwaterServr]

Originally Posted by Ozzu

It's worth it. I think book 6 is by far the weakest and even that one isn't bad. It's just a bit slow in spots.

I also started that series when the 3rd book in the series had just reached paperback. If I recall correctly, they were on the air-tram thingy and had no idea if the landing spot was still operating. Big Blaine and Little Blaine is what I remember. A machine with an alter ego?

I might have to pick it up again, but I've got The Shoes of Earhardt to read and 3 Cups of Tea while writing my own. Not enough time in the day.

[ScipioCowboy]

Originally Posted by CanadianCowboysFan

I just finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

As the song by Evanescence goes "I know the truth now". Religion is now clear to me.

[Maikeru-sama]

Game of Thrones
10/10

One of the best books I have ever read.

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by SaltwaterServr

I also started that series when the 3rd book in the series had just reached paperback. If I recall correctly, they were on the air-tram thingy and had no idea if the landing spot was still operating. Big Blaine and Little Blaine is what I remember. A machine with an alter ego?

I might have to pick it up again, but I've got The Shoes of Earhardt to read and 3 Cups of Tea while writing my own. Not enough time in the day.

Yeah. Blaine the Train. He likes riddles, but hates jokes. The 4th book picks right up where that one left off and then they settle into camp and Roland tells his backstory. Good stuff.

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Originally Posted by ScipioCowboy

laugh all you want, I never thought about why there are life after death beliefs, now I know it is because man is really just not able to face his own mortality. We are the only animals who know we will die someday.

Read it, it will open your eyes to the world beyond the end of your nose.